Probate is necessary to pass ownership of the decedent’s probate assets to the decedent’s beneficiaries. If the decedent left a valid will, unless the will is admitted to probate in the court, it will be ineffective to pass ownership of probate assets to the decedent’s beneficiaries. If the decedent had no will, probate is necessary [...]
Probate is a court-supervised process for identifying and gathering the assets of a deceased person (decedent), paying the decedent’s debts and distributing the decedent’s assets to his or her beneficiaries. In general, the decedent’s assets are used first to pay the cost of the probate proceeding, then are used to pay the decedent’s outstanding debts, [...]
No. Life insurance is only one kind of property that you may own, and a will is necessary to dispose of other assets that you own at death. If a life insurance policy is payable to an individual, your will has no effect on the proceeds. If the policy is payable to your estate, the [...]
It is ‘good’ until it is changed or revoked in the manner required by law. Your will may be changed as often as you desire while you are sane and not under undue influence, duress or fraud, provided it is changed in the required manner. Changes in circumstances after the execution of the will, such [...]
It depends on the facts of each situation; some probate administrations take longer than others. For example, the personal representative may need to sell real estate before settling the probate estate, or to resolve a disputed claim filed by a creditor or a lawsuit filed to challenge the validity of the will. Any of these [...]
What is the relationship between a Declaration of Living Will and Power of Attorney? A Declaration of Living Will specifies a person’s wishes as to the provision or termination of medical procedures when the person is diagnosed with a terminal condition, has an end-stage condition, or is in a persistent vegetative state. A living [...]
When does a Power of Attorney terminate? The authority of any agent under a Power of Attorney automatically ends when one of the following things happens: (1) the principal dies, (2) the principal revokes the Power of Attorney, (3) a court determines that the principal is totally or partially incapacitated and does not specifically [...]
The decedent’s surviving spouse and children may be entitled to receive probate assets from the decedent’s probate estate, even if the decedent’s will gives them nothing. Florida law protects the decedent’s surviving spouse and certain surviving children from total disinheritance. For example, a surviving spouse may have rights in the decedent’s homestead real property. [...]
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